On the 21 of April 2021, the European Commission announced the Proposal for a regulation on Artificial Intelligence (AI), which aims to ensure the development and uptake of trustworthy, legal and human-centric AI in Europe. This is the first regulatory initiative globally to regulate AI in a horizontal regulatory framework, affecting any kind of AI system developed and used within the EU. It addresses the specific risks of AI through a set of complementary, proportionate and flexible rules.

A decisive element for the success of the Commission’s regulatory initiative is a sound governance system to enable smooth and uniform implementation across the EU. Only a well-functioning governance system can provide the setting for the ecosystems of excellence and trust to flourish that are the cornerstones of the proposal advanced by the EU.The proposed system is twofold: it proposes implementing measures and oversight on national as well as at EU level.

Member States are assigned a key role in the implementation of the regulatory initiative. They designate national authorities to supervise the application of the new rules, to monitor the notified bodies that assess individual compliance and to carry out market surveillance activities. To provide an executive tool for ensuring application, Member States will lay down rules for penalties to sanction infringement in compliance with the conditions laid down in the draft Regulation.

At EU level,the newly created European Artificial Intelligence Board will facilitate a harmonised implementation of the AI Regulation across the EU and provide recommendations and opinions to the Commission. It will also act as a competence centre that national authorities can consult. Finally, it will support the standardisation activities that provide concrete technical solutions for AI providers to achieve compliance with the regulatory proposal.

In the Breakout Session on AI and Governance at the EU High Level Conference on AI - From Ambition to Action on 14 September 2021, we took a closer look at the proposed governance framework of the future AI regulatory system within the EU. We invited stakeholders who are directly involved on different stages of the governance process to discuss how to move towards a successful implementation of the proposed regulation in Europe.

The recordings of the discussions as well as answers to the Sli.do questions received during the session will follow soon!